Rising tensions over conflicting claims in the South China Sea — and the potential showdown it creates between China and the US — are seen as a strategic tinderbox.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all have overlapping claims with China.

The move also comes amid a blunt assessment by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the tensions surrounding Tokyo's territorial dispute with Beijing over islands in the East Asia sea.

"(Australia and Japan) share fundamental values in this increasingly severe security environment in East Asia that will eventually lead to our common goal of assuring regional stability, as well as peace," Mr Abe said.

At the recent G20 meeting in China, Beijing and Tokyo agreed to accelerate talks on a communications mechanism between their militaries.

Mr Turnbull reiterated Australia's position.

"It is vitally important that all parties work together openly in accordance with the rule of law, and avoid in any context provocative actions which are likely to add to or create tensions," he said in comments before the bilateral talks with Mr Abe.

Mr Turnbull also met his New Zealand counterpart John Key in talks which focused on protectionism.

"The big theme there — if you could boil it right down — was how do we maintain public confidence in open markets, free trade, and economic reform in the face of a rising tide of protectionism in a lot of countries," Mr Turnbull said.

"The way I tried to sum it up best was to say you've got to get across the point that protectionism is not a ladder to get you out of the slow-growth trap, in fact it is a shovel to dig it deeper."

Mr Turnbull will attend the East Asia Summit on Thursday afternoon before heading to Micronesia for the Pacific Islands Forum.